Published : 2025-07-29
On July 29, 1996, "Queen of the Winds" Lee Lai-shan (李麗珊) won Hong Kong's first Olympic gold medal.
Lee Lai-shan is a native of Hong Kong's Cheung Chau. She practiced windsurfing under her uncle's guidance since childhood.
At the age of 17, she began to compete, and two years later, she became a member of the Hong Kong representative team.
In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the United States, Hong Kong sent a total of 23 athletes to compete in nine events. Since Lee Lai-shan had placed 11th in the previous Barcelona Olympics four years ago, she was considered one of the favourites to win a medal.
The women's windsurfing competition was held in Savannah, Georgia, with a total of 27 athletes participating.
The competition was originally scheduled for 11 rounds, but due to bad weather, it was reduced to nine rounds. Each athlete could exclude their worst two results, and the best seven results were used to determine the rankings.
Lee Lai-shan was stung by a jellyfish before her event, but she managed to maintain her performance, never falling out of the top 4 in the first six rounds.
In the 8th round, she won first place, securing the championship, and achieving a "breakthrough from zero" for Hong Kong after 44 years, and it was a gold medal.
